Malkin Academy: Different Worlds
by Dr. Platypus
Summary: A girl is invited to join the world of witches and wizards, but first she must escape intruders from a far different world that neither she nor her magical visitors have ever known. Prequel to "The Cup of Kings."
1. A Mystery Field Trip

Mr. and Mrs. Burroughs lived in a cozy house behind the General Store they operated in the tiny community of Cauldron Bottom. They were proud to say they had lived there all their lives, as did their parents, and most of their grandparents and great-grandparents all the way back to when settlers first arrived in this small, round valley surrounded by sloping green hills like a vast grassy bowl.

They lived there with their daughter, Kate, who was thirteen years old. Kate was a perfectly normal teenager. During the summers she loved to read, go swimming in Lackaday Creek, and ride broomsticks with her cousins, Merlina and Bobby. Often they would fly down the holler to visit their older cousin, Miss Vivian, and ask to play with Scratch, her pet Kneazle, or else try to spot unicorns in the woods above her house. Kate and her cousins were just ordinary kids—who happened to be wizards!

During the school year, they all attended boarding school at Malkin Academy for the Magical Arts. Kate had just finished her second year. In fact, she had only just returned home the previous week. But that didn't keep her from jumping out of bed as soon as her alarm clock rang. After a quick breakfast and shower, she put on the clothes she had picked out the night before: white shorts and a white sleeveless Cardigan sweater belted over a blue tee shirt. It was the most non-magical-looking outfit she had.

She brushed her teeth and agonized over what to do with her curly red hair before deciding to simply brush it out and pull it back in a silver-and-black barrette that she thought would look perfect with her stud earrings (she had _finally_ persuaded her parents to let her pierce her ears!) and silver eagle-pendant necklace.

When she realized she had gotten ready so fast and it was still four full hours before her appointment she was beside herself. She paced back and forth in her room for a few minutes, then opened her dresser drawer to pull out the two leaves of parchment she had received in the mail during her first week back from school. The first was a permission form, already filled out and signed by her mother. Today it was Kate's most prized possession. The second was a letter on Malkin Academy stationery, which said,

_**Dear Miss Burroughs,**_

_**I'm pleased to see that you have chosen to begin Muggle Studies with me in August. Your cousin and my colleague, Ms. Vivian Hoskins, tells me you are a fine student. I'm sure we will learn a lot together.**_

_**As it so happens, I will be passing near Cauldron Bottom a week from this Friday. I'd be delighted if you joined Ms. Hoskins and me at her house for lunch. I would also like to invite you to accompany me on a brief field trip to help me with some Malkin Academy business. I believe this will be an excellent opportunity for you to get a head start with my class.**_

_**Please have a parent sign the enclosed permission slip and bring it with you to Ms. Hoskins' house by 12:00 noon. You should be home by 4:30. Be sure to bring your wand and to dress in typical Muggle fashion.**_

_**Yours,**_

_**Mr. Cryer**_

Kate folded the letter and stuffed it into her canvas print bag. She grinned at the thought that she—and neither of her cousins—had received such an invitation. Bobby was a year behind her, so he wasn't old enough to take Muggle Studies. Merlina was a year older, but her friend Elliot Black had convinced her Muggle Studies was boring, so she was taking Divination instead.

Time seemed to stand still. Kate read the latest issue of _Teen Witch Weekly_ for about the eleventh time, sneaked some fresh blackberries from the kitchen for a mid-morning snack, and finally decided to walk to Miss Vivian's house instead of flying on her broomstick. It would take longer walking, but at least she could start on her way a few minutes early. So, grabbing her wand and her canvas bag, she slipped out of the house, kissed her mom and dad on her way through the General Store, and stepped onto the sidewalk.

The walk to Miss Vivian's house seemed almost instantaneous. She had forgotten that Cauldron Bottom was such a tiny place. Three houses past the Prewetts (where Bobby lived with his mother and grandparents) then cross the footbridge at Lackaday Creek and take the left fork. Before she knew it, she was hiking up the gentle slope of the hill where the Hoskins clan had lived in a patchwork of old but well-kept houses for over two hundred years. She grinned at Merlina, who was helping her little brother Faustus de-gnome their family's vegetable garden. Merlina pretended she didn't see her.

Miss Vivian lived in the topmost cottage, not very far from the top of the ridge and the forest on the other side. As much as Kate tried to take her time, she still arrived half an hour early. Scratch was waiting for her. The fat little furball twitched its bottlebrush tail, stretched, and escorted her the last few yards of her journey like a bored feline honor guard.

"Hello!" Kate called.

"Come on in!" came the answer. "My stars, Kate, what kept you?" Miss Vivian teased. Kate dropped her wand into an umbrella stand by the front door and her bag into a nearby rocking chair. She joined her cousin in the kitchen. Miss Vivian was in her early forties, slim, with long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. In her hand she held a wand like an orchestra conductor, but what she was conducting was a levitating knife she had set to slicing a four large potatoes.

"As long as you're here, you might as well help. We're having BLTs. Can you get that tomato sliced while I fry these potatoes?" Vivian indicated a gigantic yellow tomato on the counter.

Kate reached for a knife. "Yes, ma'am."

"You're not excited, are ya?"

"A little," Kate grinned. "Do you know what this is about?"

"Well, of course I do, child! But Mr. Cryer would have my hide if I let the Kneazle out of the bag." Scratch rolled her eyes and left to explore the living room.

The rest of the menu came together quickly with two cooks in the kitchen, and Kate enjoyed visiting with Miss Vivian, even if she failed three more times to coax her to tell the secret of this "field trip."

At five minutes to eleven there was a loud cracking sound in the direction of the front porch. Kate was halfway through the living room before she heard a knock at the door. By the third knock, she had opened the door with a smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Cryer!"

"Good morning, Kate. It's good to see you again. Ah, there you are, Viv. How are you?" Mr. Cryer was a black man of about fifty, not especially tall, who was also dressed in "typical Muggle fashion" in khaki pants, a sport jacket, and a blue necktie with dozens of tiny golden cat silhouettes.

"Is that bacon I smell?"

"We're having BLTs, Corbin," Miss Vivian chimed in, "and they're almost ready. Come on back and we can visit in the kitchen. How are Hannah and the boys?"

"Fine, Viv. Thanks for asking."

Mr. Cryer set his wand in the umbrella stand with Kate's and let Kate usher him back to the kitchen. The pleasantries around the table were mercifully brief. After not too many minutes the conversation turned to the reason for Mr. Cryer's visit. Kate was ready for business, and so—finally!—were the adults.

"Kate," Mr. Cryer began, "I've heard very impressive reports about your progress this past year. Mr. Corntassel in particular thinks very highly of you." Mr. Corntassel was the head of Kate's House at Malkin Academy and his opinion counted for a great deal. "Next term you get to begin your elective courses. You're signed up for Muggle Studies with me, Care of Magical Creatures with Ms. Hoskins here," Kate and Miss Vivian traded mischievous glances, "and Ancient Runes with Ms. Svenson-Benson. Is that right?"

Kate nodded.

"Well, I'm here because I think you could be helpful to me in a small errand I need to do today that involves Muggles. Are you interested?"

Kate wanted to blurt out, "Of course I'm interested! Are you crazy?" Instead she nodded again, speechless.

Mr. Cryer continued. "I know you understand about Muggle-born wizards. There are several in your year, right? Felicia Hyatt, Victor Neumann..."

"Yeah, Felicia's really nice. We're dorm-mates."

"Have you ever talked with her about what it was like to get her acceptance letter from Malkin Academy?"

Kate furrowed her brow. She had never thought about that. Kids from wizarding families got their Malkin acceptance letters by owl post some time in June. Kate remembered how excited she was when hers came. She had never thought about how a Muggle-born witch or wizard probably had never even heard of Malkin Academy.

"I guess I just assumed they got an owl like everybody else," she said. Even as she said it she knew this had to be a wrong assumption.

"In fact, Kate, those letters are delivered in person by a member of the Malkin faculty." Mr. Cryer paused.

Kate's mind raced ahead several steps and her eyes got big. "You want me to help you deliver a Malkin acceptance letter?" she tentatively offered.

"If you don't mind. There's a girl with definite magical potential not too far from here. Her brothers are just this morning leaving on a camping trip with some friends, so we'll be able to talk without interruption. I expect having you along might make her and her parents feel more at ease when I deliver her letter. It can be a shock to find out you're a witch—or that you're the parents of one!"

"When can we start?"

"I'd say as soon as we help Ms. Hoskins clean up her kitchen."

"Y'all don't worry about that," Miss Vivian said. "We didn't make too much of a mess. Go on and have fun."

With a smile Kate got up from the table and followed Mr. Cryer into the living room.

"Now, don't forget the rules," Miss Vivian called as she brought up the rear.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I know, Miss Vivian." She recited the litany her parents had drummed into her since she was eleven years old. "No magic outside of school. No magic in front of Muggles. Defensive magic _only_ in an emergency."

"And remember," Mr. Cryer added, "this girl—and her family—knows nothing of the wizarding world. It will be a shock to learn that people like us even exist. But I bet she already knows she's different somehow. We'll have to be patient, gentle. Understand?"

Kate nodded.

"Now, do you have your wand?"

Kate retrieved her wand from the umbrella stand. Malkin Academy preferred the use of long Appachian-style wands that were really more like long, straight rods. Kate's was eighteen inches long, made of dogwood, with a tuft of unicorn's hair at the core. She grabbed her bag.

"This was a birthday present," she said. "Dad got it from a mail-order house in Cannular Square. It has an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. It's not a very strong one, but I can hide my wand in here easy." And with that she slipped the rod into the bag until it vanished entirely from sight. She rummaged around in her bag until she found her signed permission form and proudly presented it to Mr. Cryer.

"That's good thinking, Kate," Mr. Cryer smiled. "You've already got more sense about Muggles than a lot of wizards I know."

Mr. Cryer drew his own wand (about twenty inches long and probably applewood, Kate thought) from the umbrella stand. "Viv, could I bother you for an empty bottle or soup can? If you like, I can show you my permit from the U. S. Portkey Authority."

"No need for that, Corbin. And I've got just the thing!" Miss Vivian said, and in a second she had retrieved a green Muggle pop bottle from the kitchen trash. Mr. Cryer thanked her and walked out onto the porch with Kate. He set the bottle on the railing of Miss Vivian's porch, tapped it with his wand and uttered, "_Portus_." The bottle trembled slightly and glowed blue for a second. Then it seemed once more like an ordinary pop bottle.

"Are you ready?" he asked. Kate nodded, speechless again.

"Y'all have fun!" Miss Vivian said.

"You know about Portkeys? Good. On three, then? One...two...three!"

Kate and Mr. Cryer each touched the pop bottle at the same time. Kate suddenly felt a strong tug as if someone had snatched her by a place behind her navel. Miss Vivian's porch disappeared.

The next thing Kate knew, she and Mr. Cryer were in a deserted alley. They were standing beside a brick wall next to a huge metal dumpster. Kate could smell the aroma of spices and cooking vegetables and hear the clatter of pans and dishes.

"Giovanni's Pizza," Mr. Cryer said, indicating the building behind them. He tossed the pop bottle into the dumpster. "I don't care for it but it's popular with the locals. Also, the bright green roof makes an excellent landmark from the air." Kate puzzled at this but didn't say anything.

"Let's go," Mr. Cryer said. Kate and her teacher started to round the corner. Kate hesitated.

"Mr. Cryer, would you like to hide your wand in my bag?"

He smiled. "I prefer at least one of us keep a wand at the ready." He opened his left hand palm-up, balancing his wand with the slightest encouragement from his thumb. He whispered, "_Occulto Virgulam_." Suddenly Mr. Cryer's wand began to shrink, like a balloon being deflated, until it was only a few inches long. In the process it gained a glossy sheen and several flourishes of gold trim: a pocket clip, a cap band. It was no longer a wand at all but a fountain pen! Kate was dumbstruck.

"I had a Masquerod Charm put on it years ago," Mr. Cryer explained. "Very useful when you spend as much time around Muggles as I do."

With Mr. Cryer's "fountain pen" safely tucked into his shirt pocket, the pair made their way out into the street. Kate could see she was in a smallish town—far larger than Cauldron Bottom but not nearly as big as Arlington, Virginia, which was the biggest city she'd ever seen. Every summer her whole family went to Cannular Square in Arlington to buy the books and other supplies she would need for the upcoming school year.

Mr. Cryer seemed to know exactly where he was going. He guided Kate along the sidewalk, helped her read the traffic lights and cross the street safely, and nodded pleasantly to the Muggles they passed along the way. Kate strived with all her might not to let on that she was enthralled with every detail. There were so many things she wanted to ask. How do automobiles work? How do the traffic lights know when to change? Are they charmed or do they just have trained fairies inside them turning levers? What are those tiny boxes Muggles hold up to their ears, and who are they talking to?

Finally Mr. Cryer nudged Kate to turn right. According to the street sign, they were now walking down Redbud Way. After another block, Mr. Cryer tapped Kate's shoulder and whispered, "Looks like we're in luck. See that girl up ahead?" Kate indeed saw a brown-haired girl about a block ahead of them. She wore cut-off denim shorts and a pink tee shirt. She stooped to pick up a pop can someone had tossed on the side of the road and stick it in a plastic bag she was carrying. From the look of it, she had had a productive day collecting cans.

"Muggles recycle the metal," Mr. Cryer explained under his breath. "I'll bet she collects the cans, then turns them in at what they call a 'recycling center' in exchange for a little bit of spending money" Kate nodded appreciatively at such arcane knowledge. The girl was once again walking in their direction.

"What do you want me to do?" Kate whispered.

"For now, just try to look harmless."

About three driveways away, Mr. Cryer raised his voice. "Excuse me, Miss!" he said. A couple of neighbors out in their front yards took note of the pair's presence. Kate figured Mr. Cryer was trying not to seem like he was sneaking up on the girl. Wizarding kids were taught to be careful of strangers, and she assumed the same was true for Muggle kids. "I'm looking for 700 Redbud Way. Am I going the right direction?"

"Yeah, that's my house. Right at the corner."

"Your house?" Mr. Cryer pretended surprise. "You wouldn't be Jessica Robinson, would you?"

The girl shrunk back. It looked to Kate like she might be trying to decide whether to cross the street to get away from them. Kate flashed her most harmless-looking smile.

"I have a letter for Jessica Robinson," Mr. Cryer continued. He pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and held it toward her. "Do you think we could go back to your house to give it to her? I'd also like to meet her parents."

The girl glanced from Mr. Cryer to Kate and back. "I'm Jessica Robinson," she finally said. Kate still thought it was special to get real mail from someone other than her parents or friends while she was away at school. Without taking her eyes off these strangers, Jessica said "Come on. My mom and dad are home."

"Thanks," Mr. Cryer said, offering her the letter. The envelope was made of parchment and sealed with wax onto which was stamped the Malkin Academy coat of arms: two cats raring on their hind legs on either side of a cauldron, above which levitated a book, wand, and pointed hat. Kate tried to make out the upside-down hand-written address. Jessica studied it as if it were a puzzle she were meant to solve:

_**Miss Jessica Robinson  
>700 Redbud Way<br>Edmundville, Kentucky**_

"Jessica!" A voice called from the front stoop of 700 Redbud Way. The tall brown-haired girl returned to the present. Her two visitors looked up in the direction of a slight, brown-haired woman who must have been Jessica's mother. "What's going on?"

"Go to your mom," Mr. Cryer said, loud enough for anyone to hear. "We'll catch up."

Jessica ran ahead with the envelope in her hand. She showed it to her mother and the two exchanged words neither Kate nor Mr. Cryer could make out. Mrs. Robinson eyed the pair suspiciously as they walked up her driveway.

Mr. Cryer was the first to the stoop. "Mrs. Robinson? My name is Corbin Cryer. I'm a teacher at Malkin Academy. It's a...private school. I'm happy to say your daughter has been accepted to attend, and I'd like to discuss the matter with you. Is this a good time?"

"Malkin Academy?" the woman asked, her brow furrowed. "I've never heard of it. Jessica goes to the public school. We've never applied—"

By this time Mr. Robinson had poked his head out the door to see what was going on. Jessica had obviously gotten her height from her imposing, muscular father.

"Mrs. Robinson, Mr. Robinson, Malkin offers a rather unique curriculum that we believe is perfectly suited for your daughter's needs. Perhaps if she could read her acceptance letter?"

"I'm sorry you've wasted your time. I don't think—"

"What has Jessica told you about Tom Walker?" Mr. Cryer interjected. Jessica's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

Mr. Robinson now spoke up. "Jess's not the only kid Tom has picked on. He's finally getting some counseling, though. Things have gotten better. Jess doesn't like to talk about it. But what does that have to do with—"

"Yes," Mr. Cryer said, pulling a slip of parchment from inside his jacket. "It looks like Tom hasn't caused anyone any trouble since February the 18th." He turned to Jessica. "Do you have any idea why that might be?"

All three Robinsons now gave the appearance of spies whose cover was about to be blown.

"Might it possibly have something to do with the fact that young Mr. Walker was sent home early from school that day with a face covered with warts?"

Jessica examined the envelope once again. Her dad took it from her hands, flipped it over and read the return address. His hand began to tremble.

"Malkin Academy for the Magical Arts? What the...?"

"It seems Jessica is just the sort of young lady Malkin Academy is looking for." Mr. Cryer referred to his parchment. "Making it snow in her bedroom at age seven. Very impressive! A dancing a teddy bear at eight. Transfiguring Brussels sprouts into gumballs last September. And jinxing the school bully not four months ago." He looked up from his parchment. "Have I missed anything?"

"Maybe you'd better come inside," Mr. Robinson said.

* * *

><p>Author's note: I wrote this before "The Cup of Kings," although I'm only now getting it into a form suitable for posting. If you recognize anything, it belongs to Ms. Rowling. All original characters, spells, and settings are my invention.<p> 


	2. Redbud Way

Jessica sat on the sofa between her parents. Kate and Mr. Cryer took their seats in chairs facing them. The girl opened the envelope, unfolded the leaf of parchment within, and read the message aloud.

_**Malkin Academy for the Magical Arts  
>Athanasius Towne, Principal<strong>_

_**Dear Miss Robinson,**_

_**It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been accepted to attend the Malkin Academy for the Magical Arts. Please reply by July 11, and kindly take note that the term begins promptly at 8:00 AM on the second Monday of August.**_

_**A list of required books and other supplies is enclosed. **_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Ms. Strigia Goates**_

_**Vice Principal**_

Jessica gazed at the enclosed book list, her eyes widening with every heartbeat.

"Mr. and Mrs. Robinson," Mr. Cryer said softly. "I'm sure you have a multitude of questions. Perhaps Jessica and Kate here could find something to amuse themselves while we talk things over?"

Mrs. Robinson had not ceased staring at Mr. Cryer. Mr. Robinson's hands had started to tremble.

"Kate, maybe Jessica would like to show you her room."

"Yes sir, Mr. Cryer," Kate said. "Are you sure I couldn't…" she swished her index finger from side to side while making a whooshing noise.

Mr. Cryer smiled. His eyes lingered on Kate's eager expression. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson traded apprehensive glances. "I wouldn't recommend it." Kate made a face. "But I certainly think it would be all right if you showed Jessica what's in your bag." Now Mr. Cryer turned to Jessica and said, "Jessica, why don't you show Kate your room?"

Jessica looked at her mother. Her mother looked at her father. Mr. Robinson hesitantly nodded, then Mrs. Robinson, and then Jessica slowly rose from her seat. "This way," she said.

Mr. Cryer said, "Thank you, Kate. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Robinson, if you'll permit me I'd like to tell you a little bit about your daughter and the opportunities she has before her…."

* * *

><p>Jessica's room was not too different from Kate's. The first thing Kate noticed was that no one was moving in any of the posters on the wall. She remembered the poster Felicia Wyatt put up in their dorm every year with her favorite singer, a Muggle girl just a few years older than they were in a sparkly purple outfit. She didn't move, either.<p>

Kate spied a shelf of trophies: honor roll, art club, perfect attendance….

Jessica stood there with her hands in her pockets. She stared at Kate as if she were a cross-eyed goblin. Kate suddenly realized that she probably had very little in common with this girl.

"Nice room," Kate offered. She noticed a silvery box with a half-dozen buttons and knobs on it and two large circles covered with some kind of grate that made it look like the eyes of a gigantic insect. "Oh, is that your computer?" Kate said cheerfully.

Jessica looked at Kate as if she were stupid. "No, it's my _radio_."

"Radio, sorry." Kate rocked on her heels. This wasn't going as smoothly as she expected.

"Well, Mr. Cryer wanted me to show you something." She pulled her canvas bag off her shoulder and reached inside for her wand. Kate could tell from Jessica's expression she never expected anything that long to come out of such a small bag.

"Whoa!" Jessica gasped.

"This is my wand," Kate stated, her face beaming. "You'll get one, too."

"What does it do?" Jessica asked.

"Well, it doesn't do anything, really. It just helps you focus. Helps you control your magical powers."

Jessica couldn't take her eyes off of it.

"Really powerful wizards can just use hand gestures, at least some of the time. But every wizard has one."

"Can I…. Would it be okay if…."

"You can hold it if you like—but just for a minute." Kate remembered how unpredictable her powers were before she started at Malkin. When she was ten she got into a fight with Bobby Prewett and turned his fingers into cheese curls. But that was nothing compared to the story she heard in History of Magic class about a boy in England once who went to the zoo and actually managed to vanish a huge pane of plexiglass!

Jessica picked up the wand with the thumb and index fingers of both hands. Kate couldn't quite decide if Jessica was more thrilled or terrified.

"You said this could help you control your magic? I…. Well, you heard…. I can…. But I don't mean to…."

"I know," Kate said, imitating the consoling tone she had heard a thousand times in her own mother's voice. "You get upset or scared and the next thing you know, somebody has gotten hurt."

"Yeah."

"Well, you won't have to worry about things like that any more. The teachers are Malkin Academy are really great. They'll teach you how to, you know, keep things under control."

Jessica sighed in relief. "That's good to know."

"Hey! I've got something else I can show you" Kate reached into her bag again and drew out a stack of several leaves of parchment. "The student newspaper. I almost forgot I had it." She handed the papers over to Jessica. "It's the last edition of the term—just came out last month."

The masthead said _The Caterwaul_ in a bold Art Deco typeface. Jessica read aloud the motto printed beneath the title: "Talk is cheap, but we're cheaper…. Six Flitters?"

"That's wizard money," Kate explained when she saw Jessica's confused expression. Nineteen Flitters make a Darick, and of course thirteen Daricks make a Scepter."

"Uh, right." Jessica looked down at the parchment and gasped. She pointed to the photo of a group of students in robes with numbers on the sleeves. They were holding up a giant trophy cup and pumping their fists in the air. "Th-They're moving!" she whispered.

"Yeah. Well, there's not much point in them just standing there."

_**PROUDFEATHER NARROWLY DEFEATED IN QUODPOT TOURNAMENT  
>By Thomas Cryer, Sports Correspondent<strong>_

"That's Mr. Cryer's son," Kate explained. "He just graduated."

_** Despite a valiant effort, Proudfeather House fell short in their struggle to seize the top spot in this year's Malkin Academy Quodpot Tournament.**_

"What's Quodpot?" Jessica asked.

"It's a sport," Jessica explained. "You play it on broomsticks."

"Broomsticks?"

"Sure. There's eleven players on a side, and you fly on broomsticks and try to get the Quod—that's the ball, about as big as a Quidditch Quaffle—into the other team's cauldron before it explodes."

The ball _explodes_!"

"Well, it's not a _big_ explosion," Kate reassured her. "Unless you're in the professional league, it's mostly for show. Lots of sparks and a loud noise, that kind of thing. I have a friend in my year that plays. He got his face burned last year, but he got better."

"Oh, and there are four houses. They're like school teams. We all live in the same dorms and take our classes together. I'm in Proudfeather."

Jessica read on:

_**Quickfang got off to an early lead by defeating Proudfeather 16–8—some say by questionable means—last December. But the intrepid Proudfeathers battled back, scoring decisive victories over both Strongfoot and Fairgarland to match Quickfang's record. In the end, it came down to points scored, and on this niggling technicality, Quickfang eked out a win by the slimmest of margins.**_

_** This is the fourth year in a row that the Quickfangs have somehow managed to retain possession of the coveted Quodpot Trophy. Mr. Jacob Malleus, Head of Quickfang House, denies that there is any validity to rumors that the Quickfangs introduced a non-regulation Quod into the game, the unusually vigorous explosion of which sent second-year Proudfeather Blitzer Phinehas Buzzard to the infirmary late in the game. Mr. Malleus simply stated he was pleased with "the competitive spirit" his charges displayed.**_

_** Chief Fish-Hawk, the Quickfang house ghost, was unavailable for comment. The Proudfeather's house ghost, Rufus Buzzard, said he was proud of his descendant's performance in his first season on the Proudfeather House team.**_

"Thomas was in Proudfeather House, if you couldn't guess," Kate giggled. "He takes Quodpot _very_ seriously."

"Like my older brothers and basketball," Jessica said, laughing. Then she turned serious. "What's a 'house ghost?"

"Well, there are about half a dozen ghosts at Malkin. Some of them have sort of adopted one of the four houses. Our house ghost is Rufus, like the article says. He's great! He knows the funniest songs and stories and he's a really good dancer. He died in the Revolutionary War."

Jessica's eyes grew wider with every sentence out of Kate's mouth. Kate felt Jessica was finally warming up to her. She had a million questions, and was finding the courage to ask them. She asked Kate to explain what a Quidditch Quaffle was, which led to a discussion of how most of the wizarding world likes Quidditch better than Quodpot, even though nothing explodes in Quidditch.

Jessica scanned the other headlines: "Malkin Honors 36 New Graduates" (they all waved enthusiastically in the group photo), "How to Feel Confident in Your Dress Robes (story on page 3)," "Five Simple Charms Every Young Witch Needs to Know (story on page 4)."

She asked about what the teachers were like. She was relieved that this Mr. Malleus fellow was all right and there really wasn't anything shady about the game against Quickfang. He was very strict, Kate said, and she didn't like him at first, but she had realized this past year that he just wanted to make sure his students were prepared to defend themselves.

"Defend themselves?" Jessica asked. "What do you mean?"

"Mr. Malleus teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. It's all about how to deal with werewolves and monsters and Dark wizards."

"Y-you mean werewolves and monsters are real too?" Jessica whispered.

"Well, yeah. But it's not like you see them every day. And most of them are pretty harmless. Boggarts and haints and things like that look scary but they're not that hard to get rid of. There are spells that make them go away, or at least let you protect yourself. That's Mr. Malleus's specialty." Kate could see this conversation was making Jessica nervous and cast around for something else to talk about. She noticed that Jessica's window overlooked the Robinsons' back yard, where a silver-and-black Siamese cat was stalking butterflies. "Is that your cat?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's Britches." A few short minutes later the girls were outside, admiring the cat and trying to coax her to come to either of them for some cuddling.

"She doesn't really like to cuddle," Jessica apologized.

"I understand," Kate said. "My cousin Miss Vivian has a kneazle—that's kind of like a magical cat—who doesn't much care for attention, either." Britches suddenly bolted from Jessica's attempt to pet her. She hissed and bared her fangs at the rose bush at the back of the yard.

"Aw, Britches," Jessica scolded. "Did you see another butterfly? Are you gonna keep it from trespassing in your yard?"

Kate glanced in the direction of the rose bush. For a second she thought she saw something—two tiny smudges of pale blue mingled among the flowers. But they vanished as soon as she saw them.

About that time Jessica's parents and Mr. Cryer appeared at the back door.

"Having fun, girls?" Mr. Cryer asked.

Kate tried to interpret the expressions on the Robinsons' faces. How were they taking whatever Mr. Cryer had told them? Were they scared? Confused? Relieved? Kate couldn't exactly tell, but she noticed that Mrs. Robinson held a piece of parchment in her hands. No doubt that would be Jessica's book and equipment list for the fall.

Mr. Cryer seemed to be finishing up his conversation with the Robinsons. "... and we'll make sure an adult is with her at all times in Cannular Square. As I said, we've had new students from non-magical families for as long as I can remember. Ah, what a pretty cat!"

"Momma," Jessica said, "can me and Kate go get ice cream?"

"Kate and _I_," her mom corrected. She glanced apprehensively at her husband. "I don't know..."

"It's just a few blocks away. Please?"

"Mrs. Robinson, I know this is all very new and strange. I don't want you to feel—"

"It'll be okay," Mr. Robinson offered. "After all you've told us...after all you've _shown_ us...I mean, I believe you. Crazy as it sounds, I have to believe what you've told us about this...school. And, well, if Catherine and I decide this is best for Jessica—and I'm not saying we will—then I guess..."

"What I think my husband is trying to say," Mrs. Robinson interrupted, "is that Jessica needs to feel comfortable with this before we make any commitments. She'll want to know what she'll be getting into. She needs to make her own decision." She turned to Jessica. "Just one scoop. I don't want you ruining your appetite." Jessica beamed.

"Now, let me get my purse..."

"Don't trouble yourself, Mrs. Robinson," Mr. Cryer said, "this can be my treat. Now, Jessica, I don't have a car so I'm afraid we'll have to walk. But you said there was a place nearby?"

Jessica hugged her parents and Mr. Cryer shook their hands. The teacher and the two girls strolled to the gate in the white picket fence around the Robinsons' back yard. They turned to the right, Jessica in the lead. Two blocks past Rosebud way there was a large vacant lot, overgrown with trees and tall grass, with a sign announcing a new drugstore coming soon. Kate wondered what a drugstore was and whether it might be anything like the Potions classroom at Malkin Academy.

"What do you teach, Mr. Cryer?" Jessica asked.

"Muggle Studies," he answered. "'Muggle' is what we call people who don't have any magic. I teach students how to understand the non-magical point of view of things."

"Oh," Jessica said. Kate could tell she didn't really understand. She didn't know there were so many things about her everyday life that didn't make any sense to someone like her who grew up in the wizarding world. What _is_ a drugstore, anyway? Why don't Muggle photographs move? What is electricity? How does a Muggle radio work? She figured Jessica's life would seem just as strange to her as hers must have to Jessica.

"Jessica, wait," Mr. Cryer said. He had come to a halt in front of the lot.

"What is it, Mr. Cryer?"

"I thought I saw something, Kate. Probably nothing." The trio walked another half-dozen steps, and then Kate saw it, too.

"Mr. Cryer! Someone's in there. Behind those trees."

The three stopped again. Kate noticed there was no one else on the street.

"I'm not sure he was human. There was something odd about him. If we were in the wizarding world I'd say he was a goblin, but he couldn't be, could he?

Mr. Cryer had pulled his fountain pen from his shirt pocket.

Suddenly there was a _zzip!_ They wheeled around to see two strange figures behind them, rushing toward them.

"_Aperio Virgulam_!" Mr. Cryer shouted. His fountain pen expanded until it once again became a wand.

Jessica shrieked and bolted into the grass. Kate was half a step behind her. "Jessica, no!" she shouted. Behind her Kate heard crackles of magical energy and the grunts and gasps of whoever was on the receiving end of it, but she didn't dare turn around to see. She reached Jessica just as the third figure—the one from behind the trees—jumped out in front of them.

He didn't quite look like a goblin, as Kate had first thought. He was as tall as a man, completely bald, but with bushy, upturned eyebrows. He had a strange bluish-green complexion and he was dressed in mismatched Muggle clothing. In his hand was a dangerous looking knife. Kate cursed under her breath. Everything had happened so suddenly she had forgotten to get out her wand. It was still hidden away in her bag!

She pushed Jessica out of the way and shouted, "Go away!" Her boldness must have startled whatever this strange creature was. It startled her, too! The creature took two steps back, then closed on Kate again. She had bought herself no more than a few seconds, but that was enough to retrieve her wand.

Her attacker's face showed no appreciable expression, but there was clearly intelligence in his eyes. Those eyes darted between Kate's face and her wand. If she was going to do anything, now was the time.

"_Expelliarmus!_" she shouted. A jet of scarlet light shot from the end of her wand toward the creature's knife-hand.

Nothing happened.

There was a twinkle in the creature's pale blue eyes.


	3. As the Crow Flies

Behind her back Kate heard a _zzip! _followed by hurried footsteps in the grass.

"Jessica, come to me," she heard Mr. Cryer say. His voice was even and calm, but not unconcerned.

"Kate, stand your ground. Don't look back. I'm right behind you."

Now the creature seemed distracted. He glanced first at Kate, then past her in the direction of Mr. Cryer's voice. The standoff seemed to last forever, although it was really only a few seconds. Then Mr. Cryer broke the silence.

"Again!" he shouted, "_Expelliarmus!_" As soon as Kate heard the word "Again" she reflexively cast her own Disarming Charm. This time two bolts of scarlet light hit her attacker. The knife flew into the air as the creature was jerked backward and landed on the ground with a thud.

The knife's arc of descent sent it straight into Mr. Cryer's free right hand. A second later, the attacker scrambled to his feet and vanished with yet another _zzip!_

"Mr. Cryer!" Kate shrieked, "What was—"

"Not now," Mr. Cryer said, even voiced. He scanned the street. It was still empty of Muggles. He looked down at the knife in his hand and sucked in a breath. "Follow me!" he announced and began running across the grass toward the trees in the middle of the lot. "Can you climb a tree, you two?"

"Sure, but..." Kate protested.

"No time to explain," Mr. Cryer interrupted. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be short with you, but I need to keep you safe. We can't go back to your parents, Jessica, until I know what we're dealing with. With no magic, your parents would be vulnerable. Do you understand?"

Jessica nodded.

"I'm going to put a Disillusionment Charm on you. You'll be invisible. Nobody can get you. I have to send for help, then see if I can find us a better place to sort things out."

Mr. Cryer took a deep, calming breath. He raised his wand and a silvery, winged form emerged from the tip. It rose high into the air flew like lightning off to the east.

"That was a message to the school. Help will soon be here."

"But Mr. Cryer, what does—"

"You see this?" Mr. Cryer held out the knife he had snatched from Kate and Jessica's attacker. "Bronze. Not iron or steel, but bronze. Do you know what that means?"

"Er..." Kate blushed. Had she forgotten something important from her Defense Against the Dark Arts classes?

"I don't mean to worry you," Mr. Cryer said, "but we may not be dealing with ordinary magic here. It's best if you two stay out of sight. Now, up you go!"

Kate and Jessica scampered up the nearest tree. Mr. Cryer urged them to go as high as they could. Then, with another wave of his wand and a muttered incantation, Kate watched as Jessica started to fade from view before her eyes. She held out her hand and realized that she was also becoming invisible.

"Try not to talk. If you do have to talk, whisper. I'll be back as soon as I possibly can. I promise."

With that, Mr. Cryer tucked his wand inside his jacket. He turned away from the trees and spread his arms wide. In an instant, his body shrank and turned jet black. His hands and arms sprouted black feathers. His legs shriveled into scaly black claws and the tail of his sports jacket turned into the tail feathers of a bird. Mr. Cryer had transformed into a large crow.

The crow cawed once. Was that a "Be careful," "I'll be back," or simply "Good luck"? It launched into the air, circled once above the lot, then sped off.

"An Animagus?" Kate muttered to herself. "Mr. Cryer is an Animagus?"

Kate sat still in her tree branch for a long time. Jessica was right above her, invisible. Although she couldn't see her, Kate could hear her gently sobbing.

"Jessica?" she whispered. "I'm still here."

"I want to g-go home!" Jessica answered. Kate could feel herself trembling. It was all she could do to keep from breaking down. She had never been in a situation like this before. She could only imagine what Jessica was going through. She tentatively reached a hand upward.

"Don't worry, it's just me," she said. She reached around blindly until her hand made contact with Jessica's fingers gripping the branch where she sat.

"Kate?"

"Yes?"

"I'm scared."

"Me too, but Mr. Cryer will come back for us. Everything will be okay." Kate hoped she wasn't lying.

"Am I really a, a w-wizard?"

"If Mr. Cryer says so. He knows all about this stuff."

"I don't want to be a wizard," she whimpered. "I just want to go back home, and be with my Mom and Dad, and go swimming, and, and—" her voice trailed off, then the floodgates opened. "I want to stop doing w-what I did to Tom Walker, and all those other things Mr. Cryer knew about! I just want to be a regular kid!"

Jessica's cries were getting louder and Kate was getting nervous. "Jessica—"

"This is real! Those monsters were real!"

"Jessica, honey, I understand, but you're getting a little loud."

"What were they coming after us for, anyway? What did we ever do?"

"I don't know, Jess, but we need to keep our voices down in case…"

_ Zzip!_

Three nightmare figures suddenly appeared in the middle of the vacant lot. The branch above Kate began to shake. Kate inched up, balancing herself on her branch in a half-crouch so she could grasp Jessica's trembling hand.

One of the creatures was the one Kate and Mr. Cryer disarmed before. The others might have been the ones that had rushed them from behind, but Kate wasn't sure. She never got a good look at those two. At any rate, they all had the same subtle bluish-green tint to their skin. The other two were a boy and a girl. None of the three looked much older than about seventeen or eighteen years old. The second boy wore his impossibly blond, thin hair pulled back in a ponytail. The girl had short spiky hair that was not blond but rather violently, almost painfully, yellow. All three looked like they had dressed themselves in the dark. Baldy was slim, bare-footed, and wore striped dress pants and a leather vest. Ponytail was taller and had broader shoulders. He wore baggy purple pants, tennis shoes, and a black tuxedo jacket. Instead of a flower, he had a sprig of parsley pinned to his lapel. The Girl had on a short lime-green sundress with a blue floral print and pink and white striped leggings. Around her neck were three or four different kinds of necklaces. Like Baldy, she was barefooted.

They scanned the lot, looking this way and that. They seemed to be paying the most attention to the spot where Kate and Mr. Cryer had disarmed the first one. Were they looking for the knife?

Just then a car drove past the lot. The woman driving eyed the strangers suspiciously. They nodded her way. Baldy said "Good afternoon, Milady" in an odd accent. The three turned to each other and pretended they were having a friendly conversation about the weather, but glanced a time or two to see when the car drove out of sight. Then they began to converse quietly in a language Kate didn't understand. Baldy gestured fiercely. Ponytail shrunk from his curt, angry sentences. The Girl didn't seem to pay either of them any attention but rather gazed out into the vacant lot.

Ponytail pulled a shiny object from underneath the tails of his tuxedo. It was a knife, just like the one Mr. Cryer had taken from the first one. Now she could see that it was a double-bladed bronze dagger with a glossy black handle. Kate was sure it was identical to the one she had seen before.

The ponytailed figure handed the dagger to Baldy. He laid it in the flat palm of his long-fingered hand.

Jessica began again to whimper. Kate shushed her as quietly as she could and held her hand even more firmly.

The dagger began to move by itself in the bald, bushy-eyed figure's hand. First it spun so the blade pointed toward the street, then it slowly turned in the direction of the tree where Kate and Jessica were hiding.

Ponytail studied the tree, then threw wide his arms and said something to Baldy. Baldy turned to scold Ponytail. Both of them gestured toward the tree.

A little boy zipped past the lot on his bicycle. The two figures paused their argument. Baldy tried to hide the dagger behind his back. Like the woman in the car, the boy gave the strangers a bewildered look. Ponytail bowed to him and said, "Good day to you, Young Master!" in the same odd accent the other had used. They once again took up their harmless conversation.

"Yes, Mhrrazael, I believe it will rain tomorrow, if it doesn't snow, " Ponytail said.

"Indeed, Gwarz, thou sayest rightly…" Baldy answered. His voice trailed off as the boy sped around the corner at the end of the block.

"To the tree?" Ponytail asked, his eyes darting left to right.

"Nowhere else to look." Baldy slipped the dagger from behind his back. "Finder saith there she be."

"It," the Girl said.

"It?" Baldy asked.

"'Finder saith there _it_ be,'" she corrected.

"Art thou sure?"

"Verily. My English am bester than thine."

Baldy mused. "'Tis '_she_,' Ewunrsar,'" he said. "I'm sure of it."

"No matter, Mhrrazael," the Girl said, and then asked a question in the trio's own language."

Baldy nodded. He held the spinning dagger out in front of them and the three followed it like a compass in the direction of the tree.

They were only about ten feet away when suddenly the Girl put her hand on Baldy's shoulder. "Mhrrazael!" she whispered. When he turned around, she glanced at a patch of tall weeds to her left, twenty or thirty feet from the tree. Kate looked in the same direction. Did she see something moving in the grass?

She said something in their language, but Baldy cut her off, gestured at the dagger in his hand, then toward the tree.

Kate wished she could see Jessica, could look her in the eye and try to communicate with her. But all she could do was hold on tight to the younger girl's hand and hope neither of them panicked.

Then something caught her eye. There _was_ something moving behind the tall weeds—she could see them swaying back and forth as if something were shaking them, though she still couldn't tell what it was.

Now Ponytail could see it, too. He complained to Baldy and the three of them stopped within six feet of the tree. Baldy turned to Ponytail.

"Gwarz," he said, and then gave him some kind of order, gesturing toward the weeds with the dagger. Ponytail stalked toward the weeds while Baldy and the Girl stood still in the shadow of Kate and Jessica's hiding place. When he got halfway between the tree and the weeds, he stopped. The weeds shook once more. Ponytail spied the street. No one was there. He raised his right hand. It began to glow with an eerie blue light.

Suddenly, a flash of _red_ light caught Kate's attention directly beneath her. Baldy wobbled and the Girl had swung around in the opposite direction to Ponytail and the weed patch. Her hands were also glowing blue, but before she could do anything she was also sent wobbling by someone's Stunning Spell.

"Oh!" Jessica shouted. Baldy's head darted upwards in her direction, but a second later a second Stunning Spell had hit him in the chest, then another hit the Girl. She shook off the second spell and lifted her hands. She and Baldy were bathed in a bright, transparent blue light. The spells kept coming at them like blows from a battering ram, but now they glanced off the Shield Charm the Girl had produced.

Kate felt the weight of her handbag on her shoulder. She thought about reaching for her wand and trying to help, but that would mean letting go of Jessica's hand and she was afraid she would yank both of them out of the tree if she tried to slip out of her grasp.

The Stunning Spells kept coming, faster than anything Kate had ever seen. Baldy and the Girl's heads were swimming despite their Shield Charm. Then Baldy gave a command. There was a _zzip!_ and they were gone.

Kate spied the weed patch. There was no sign of Ponytail. He must have escaped, too. In the excitement she never saw what was hiding in the weeds or what happened to the third stranger. She hoped it was painful, whatever it was.

"Kate!" a voice cried. Heavy footsteps were approaching from behind her.

In a heartbeat an older, sturdy-built man stood beneath the tree. He wore a plain, dark Muggle suit with a light blue shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. His beard was neatly trimmed, but his upper lip was clean-shaven.

He held a wand in his hand.

"Kate, I'm going to take the Disillusionment Charm off you. Stay still."

"Mr. Malleus!" Kate gasped. "How did you…? What were…?"

Kate noticed her arms and legs slowly returning to visibility as Mr. Malleus worked the counter-charm. Looking up, she saw that Jessica was also becoming visible.

"Now come down as quick as you can, girls. Those three may be back."

Kate slipped from the tree and helped Jessica down after her.

"How did you know where we were?" Kate asked.

Mr. Malleus gave a thumbs-up signal that drew the girls' eyes upward. In the topmost branch of the tree perched a large crow.

"I came as soon as I got the message."

Now Kate understood. Mr. Cryer must have been hiding in the weeds in his crow form to distract her attackers.

He bowed to Jessica and in a formal tone of voice said, "Good afternoon, young lady. I'm Mr. Malleus. It's a pleasure to meet you—though I think I would have preferred less strenuous circumstances."

"Mr. Malleus, this is Jessica. Robinson," Kate offered. "Jessica, this is Mr. Malleus. Remember? You read about him in _The Caterwaul_."

"My heavens, Miss Burroughs," Mr. Malleus sniffed, "Surely there are better ways to introduce new students to Malkin Academy than that rag! Ah, Mr. Cryer is ready to go."

Sure enough, the crow had taken flight and was circling around the tree.

"Come with me now, ladies, while our feathered escort makes sure we don't run into any surprises."

"Mr. Malleus, what were those—?"

"Plenty of time to chat later, Miss Burroughs. Best we not draw undue attention."

"I want to go home!" Jessica protested. Mr. Malleus stooped down so he could look her in the eye.

"Miss Robinson, there are two things we need to do," he explained, stern-faced. "The first is to ensure that your parents are safe. Mr. Cryer and I have just come from your house and I can assure you that they are. But you must understand that they are not wizards, and I'm afraid that means their safety depends on us. I've put some very powerful protective magic around your house. Nothing is going to happen to them. But for reasons we don't yet understand you seem to have come to the attention of some very powerful magical Beings. If you went home now, it would put your parents in danger." Mr. Malleus never raised his voice, but Kate could hear the seriousness in his tone.

"And that brings us to the second thing we need to do," he continued, "and that is to ensure that _you_ are safe. Until we can get things sorted out, I'm afraid that means you need to stay with us. Now, your parents won't be worried. Mr. Cryer placed a charm to make them lose track of the time you're away. They won't expect you home until you get there—and I assure you that will be as soon as can be. Mr. Cryer tells me he has found the perfect place where we can speak openly without fear of being overheard. I suggest we go there. Immediately." He glanced at the crow circling overhead and gave it a nod. Understanding the signal from the ground, the crow began to soar away.

The three on the ground strolled down the block. When they got to the ice cream shop, Mr. Malleus checked the sky and took note of the direction the crow was flying. He guided the girls to turn left.

"Hey! Jessica!" a girl called from a front porch up ahead. She could hear Mr. Malleus's stifled sigh.

_Oh, great! _Kate thought. _What now?_

The girl was about Jessica's age. She skipped toward them, smiling. "Are you going to the pool party at the Turners' next weekend? Oh, hi."

"Hi, Molly," Jessica said, rubbing the back of her neck. Molly stood transfixed at the sight of Kate and especially Mr. Malleus. "Er… This is my cousin, Kate. She's visiting from…uh…Knoxville…. And this is…um…"

"And I'm her Uncle Jacob," Mr. Malleus said.

"Nice to meet you. Do you think your cousin can come to the party, too?"

To tell the truth, Kate would love to go to a pool party. She would love to be doing almost anything besides running away from weird strangers who were trying to kill her! The hairs on her arms raised up just thinking about what she had been through in the last half hour. She glanced from side to side just to make sure no one was sneaking up on them.

She studied the street, trying to look like she wasn't afraid for her life. A picket fence swung in the breeze.

Or did it? For a second Kate thought she saw a pale blue eye peering out from between the pickets. Then they were gone. The gate swung open and no one—and nothing—was there.

"Jessica," Kate said, a bit more urgently than she intended, "I think we should be going."

The crow bobbed up and down and cawed from the rooftop of Molly's house.

"It's nice to meet you, Molly," Mr. Malleus said, "but I'm afraid Kate is right. We really must be going. Give Jessica a call later about that party, all right? Off we go."

Kate found herself flinching at every sound—the wind in the trees, the creak of rusty hinges on a gate, even the twitter of birds.

Ten minutes later Molly's street had turned into a lonely country road.

"Mr. Malleus?" Jessica said. "I-I think there's been some mistake."

Mr. Malleus spied the sky to check the location of the crow.

"I mean, I d-don't know anything about f-fighting monsters or anything. I think I'd rather not go to your school. Okay?"

"Jessica," Kate started, but Mr. Malleus shushed her and she didn't say anything else.

"I don't want to go to a new school where I don't know anybody," she said defiantly. "I want to start middle school here in Edmundville with all my friends."

"Miss Robison," Mr. Malleus said. "You are obviously free to make that decision if that is what you wish. I will be happy to convey that message to the faculty."

"Well…good."

"But that doesn't change the fact that you are currently in danger, and until I am convinced otherwise I'm afraid you are stuck with us."

Jessica sighed.

"Tell me, Miss Robison. Do odd things ever happen around you when you're angry or frightened or upset? When you're about to fall down, have you ever bounced or flown into the air instead of skinning your knees, or has the pavement ever turned to something soft like rubber or marshmallows beneath you? Have you ever been afraid of the dark and discovered that one of your toys glows in the dark? Have people you're mad at ever suffered strange accidents or suddenly taken sick?"

"Mr. Cryer told you about Tom Walker."

"Mr. Cryer has told me nothing. Those sorts of things happen to all of us."

"Really?"

"When I was a boy in Pennsylvania I accidentally knocked over a lantern in my father's barn. The fire frightened me so much I couldn't move. The next thing I knew, it was raining—inside the barn!"

There was a long silence, then Jessica said, "But I've never been as scared as when those…things were coming toward us and then those red lights started flashing. Why didn't…I mean…shouldn't I have been able to—"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way, Miss Robison," Mr. Malleus explained. "It's anybody's guess when an untrained wizard's powers will emerge. And the results are completely unpredictable. You might do something even a very powerful wizard would find difficult—or you might do nothing more than create pretty colored sparks."

Soon they were on the edge of town. Up ahead was a railroad track. Mr. Malleus led the girls to follow the track to the right. The ground began to slope downward toward a creek.

"Mr. Cryer tells me there's an overpass somewhere up ahead," Mr. Malleus said. "We'll be safe underneath the track."

From the outside, the overpass looked like an old stone bridge crossing a dried-up creek bed on the outskirts of town. The teacher and the two girls slipped underneath a stone archway into what looked like a cavernous room, open at both ends to trees and undergrowth. The roof above them—the underside of the railroad tracks—was crisscrossed with iron girders and trusses. A network of thick vertical iron bars supported the structure.

"Excellent," Mr. Malleus nodded with just a hint of a smile.

The crow flitted into the enclosed space. It landed only a few feet away from Mr. Malleus, began to distort and expand, and in an instant Mr. Cryer stood before them in his normal human shape. Jessica gasped. Kate slipped an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm glad you approve, Jacob. I thought it would be suitable, given what we seem to be up against.

"Mr. Cryer," Kate said. "What _are_ we up against? What were those—those creatures?"

"Creatures?" Mr. Malleus interrupted. "Miss Burroughs, those 'creatures' are every bit as human as you or I."


	4. The Fair Folk

"Human?" Kate whispered. "But how? They looked so odd. They looked so…_green_!"

"Mr. Malleus is right," Mr. Cryer said. "They're human…but different."

"I don't understand."

"Then perhaps it's time for a lesson," Mr. Malleus said. "And, Miss Robinson, I wouldn't have chosen for your first lesson in magic to be in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but both of you girls need to be brought up to speed."

He slipped off his hat and jacket and began to roll up his sleeves.

"What we're dealing with," he announced, "is the Fair Folk. At least, that's what a lot of people have called them through the centuries, wizard and Muggle alike. By Muggles they are more often—but quite incorrectly—called 'fairies.'"

"Fairies?" Jessica sputtered. "You mean like a fairy godmother…or tiny people leaving you money when you put a tooth under your pillow?"

"Of course not, Miss Robinson. As I said, Muggles _incorrectly_ call them fairies. Fairies are unintelligent and useful for little more than Christmas decoration. And I doubt they'd know what to do with a tooth if you gave it to them. No, the preferred modern term among wizards is 'Fae.'"

"B-but you just said they were humans," Kate objected.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Miss Burroughs," Mr. Malleus said. "We'll get to your strangers in due course. Now, what do you know about the Fae?"

"Well…" Kate hesitated. "Not too much. My parents say they're mostly superstition—like Nargles or Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. But they're supposed to be able to do magic without a wand, like elves or goblins—hey! The things that attacked us didn't use wands!"

"Indeed," Mr. Cryer said. "I can understand why your parents would tell you the Fae are imaginary creatures, Kate. Wizards only rarely have any contact with their kind. They keep their world hidden from us as much as we keep ours hidden from Muggles. I reckon most wizards would prefer to believe they're just an old superstition."

Kate pondered all the precautions her family took to keep their true nature hidden from the folks in the Muggle town down the road from Cauldron Bottom. She thought about how strict they were about not using magic outside of school and never talking about Quodpot or other magical things around strangers. Could it be possible that there could be a whole world of magical Beings just as careful to stay hidden from wizards?

"So, what makes you so sure that's what attacked us?"

"Well, the magic for one thing. As you noticed, they used powerful magic and didn't need a wand. I was able to drive two of them off—they must not have been expecting any resistance so I managed to surprise them—but I didn't really damage them. And the one we both hit with a Disarming Charm, Kate? A normal human would have been stunned for at least a few minutes, but he was up again in seconds."

"Wait, you said they _were_ human."

"But I didn't say they were _normal_ humans."

"I-I don't understand."

"Unless I'm mistaken," Mr. Cryer mused, "they were Changelings—humans kidnapped as babies and taken to live among the Fae."

It took a while for the impact of that sentence to sink in.

Mr. Malleus explained, "For some reason, Fae seem interested in human babies. No one knows why, but they sometimes steal a human child, usually a child with magical potential who's born into a Muggle family."

"But don't the parents know?" Jessica blurted out, her eyes wide with horror.

Mr. Malleus sighed. He looked her in the eye and said, "They leave a replacement—a child of their own. Most people call these Fae children 'Changelings' as well. They're both part of an exchange, see? But whatever you call them, they don't always live long. If they do, they grow up…different. Maybe very strong, or able to see things invisible to Muggles. Or maybe they're weak and sickly all their life. You can never tell."

"But the stolen child grows up in the Fae world," Mr. Cryer added. "Maybe it's adopted and loved the same as a Fae child. Maybe they treat it more like a servant, or even a pet. Who knows? But once it's there it learns Fae magic—more powerful than any we could teach."

Once again the group turned silent. After a minute's thought, Kate ventured another question.

"You said the magic was one thing that tipped you off. What else?"

"The strange tint to their complexion," Mr. Cryer said. "Some say it comes from eating Fae food, others that it has something to do with the nature of Fae magic. No one is really sure, but a lot of respected authorities mention it. And then," Mr. Cryer pulled the bronze dagger from his jacket pocket, "There's this. Nobody makes knives out of bronze any more. Steel is much stronger. But steel is made from iron."

"Iron?"

"Fae hate iron. It interferes with their magic. It hurts them to even touch it."

"And that's why we're here," Mr. Malleus interrupted, gesturing at the iron beams and girders all around them. "They won't easily find us here—their detecting spells won't work."

"Like we're jamming their radar?" Jessica asked.

"Precisely!" Mr. Cryer said. Kate wasn't sure what a radar was, but she thought she got the idea that as long as they stayed near all those iron bars it was like they were wearing an Invisibility Cloak. That was the best thing she had heard in a long time.

"And there are other ways to fight them," Mr. Malleus added. "They're vain—only think of themselves. People have used that against them. And they have a strong sense of honor. They'd rather die that lie to you—but they'll twist your words in whatever way suits them best. What I don't understand is why they would even carry a dagger. A spell would be a more effective weapon."

"Mr. Malleus," Kate said, "I don't think they meant it as a weapon. When we were back in the vacant lot they had a dagger like that but they were using it like a compass. One of them held it in his hand and it pointed toward the tree where we were hiding. They called it a 'Finder.'"

"Is that so?" Mr. Cryer mused.

"Well, it's obvious they're looking for something, isn't it?" Mr. Malleus added. "Whatever it is, they've charmed a dagger to detect it, like a Muggle's metal detector. Miss Burroughs, Miss Robinson, what else do you remember from before Mr. Cryer and I arrived?"

"They were arguing about something," Jessica offered, her voice barely rising above a whisper. "But they weren't speaking English."

"That's right," Kate added. "Except they did a little bit, remember?"

"Yeah," Jessica said. "One of 'em said something to a kid who rode past on his bike, and they spoke in English for just a little bit. Like they were trying to blend in—only I don't think they knew how weird they looked."

"What did they say?" Mr. Cryer asked.

"Well, like Kate said, they were looking at this dagger like it was pointing them to the tree. They said, 'She's in the tree' or something like that. I figured they were looking for me—but I'd never seen them before in my life! Honest!"

"Or 'it,'" Kate said. "I don't think they knew much English. One of them said _she_'s in the tree, but another one said _it_'s in the tree."

"So they might not have been looking for you at all, Jessica," Mr. Cryer said.

Jessica's face brightened. "She's right, though," she continued. "They sounded like…I don't know, like they were from a Shakespeare play or a movie with knights and castles or something. All 'thee' and 'thou' and everything."

"Is there anything else?" Mr. Cryer asked.

"I don't think so." Kate bowed her head. "They were almost to the tree by that time, and then they saw you moving in the grass and—"

"Wait," Mr. Cryer said. "They saw what?"

"Well…" Kate began again, hesitantly, "There was something moving in the grass…and I reckoned you were trying to split 'em up."

"I was circling overhead, in case they tried to escape on foot."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"Jessica, did _you_ see anything in the grass?"

"I…I think so. The boy with the ponytail did, for sure. He saw something over that way, 'cause he went to check it out. Then there were flashes of red light and—and I shut my eyes after that."

"Then what happened to the Ponytail guy?" Kate blurted.

"I thought he Disapparated when Jacob attacked the other two," Mr. Cryer confessed.

"And I thought _you_ had taken care of him, Corbin," said Mr. Malleus. "My hands were right full at the time." He sighed. "Well, I don't like this. Not one bit."

Neither did Kate.

"So, what do we know?" Mr. Malleus said. "Miss Robinson, should you change your mind and decide to attend Malkin Academy after all, you will soon learn that one of the most important lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts is to know what you're getting into. We need to gather information."

Mr. Malleus flicked his wand and a large chalkboard appeared out of nowhere. He seized a thick piece of chalk from the ledge beneath it and began to write:

FAE  
>Changelings<br>Looking for something (someone?)  
>What was moving in the grass?<p>

He frowned. "Nothing but questions so far. Perhaps I'd better run some tests on this dagger—see if I can figure out what it's meant to locate."

Mr. Malleus magicked a table and two chairs the same way he made the chalkboard appear. He sat down with the dagger in front of him. Meanwhile, Mr. Cryer puzzled at the chalkboard. Occasionally he would write something down, only to shake his head and erase it. The two of them bounced ideas back and forth, but the magic they were talking about soon soared way past anything Kate had ever learned in school.

She stepped away from the adult conversation and found a seat on a slab of concrete, part of the base for the railroad's support structure. She looked out over the wooded terrain on either side of the dry creek bed, scouting for signs of movement in the undergrowth or the glint of pale blue eyes. Those eyes were out there somewhere. She could feel it.

"_They keep their world hidden from us as much as we keep ours hidden from Muggles_," Mr. Cryer had said. She thought about her family's yearly trips to Cannular Square, the huge wizarding district in Arlington, Virginia, and the secret entrance that only wizards can find. She thought about how Malkin Academy's campus—like every other school for wizards she had heard about—was protected by powerful charms that make it invisible to Muggles and hard to get to, even for wizards. Then she thought about Mr. Cryer, teacher of Muggle Studies, in his Muggle clothing, with a charmed wand he could disguise as a Muggle fountain pen.

She wondered if there could be a whole city of Fae just up the road from Edmundville, Kentucky—or from Cauldron Bottom! Had she ever met a Fae? One who knew how to disguise himself properly and could pass as a human being without anyone catching on?

The sky was turning dark, and it wasn't even suppertime yet. Clouds were moving in, as they often did on a hot summer afternoon. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Mr. Cryer glanced at her just long enough to give her a smile and a wink. Then he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Kate had a sudden thought, or maybe the shadow of a thought, itching at the back of her mind where she couldn't quite get to it. Something important. Did she remember something else? She stood back up to stretch her legs.

"What's an Amaykus?" Jessica asked. She had also grown tired of the teachers and their hypothesizing. She was nervously fiddling with a handful of old rusty screws she had found on the ground.

"What?"

"When we were hiding in the tree. You said that Mr. Cryer was an Amaykus."

"Oh! _Animagus_. It means you can turn into some kind of animal—in Mr. Cryer's case a crow, but you already knew that. You don't need a wand or anything. Not everybody can do it, though. It's very complicated magic."

Jessica pondered.

"But all this Dark Arts stuff—you learn that at your school?"

"Yeah. But it's _Defense Against_ the Dark Arts. I've only finished two years, so I haven't learned much. Just basic defensive spells, how to tell the difference between a haint and a poltergeist, those kinds of things. I think next year we're supposed to start on werewolves and vampires."

"Sounds like there's lots of evil things in your world."

"Not always. Mr. Malleus says Dark doesn't have to mean evil. Sometimes it does, but sometimes Dark just means dangerous or unpredictable. Either way, it's good to be prepared for it."

"So…you think this is one of those times when Dark means evil?" Jessica was rocking back and forth. She shoved her hands deep in her pockets to keep from fidgeting any more than she was.

Kate sighed. "Probably." She put her hand on Jessica's shoulder. "But there's so much more to my world that this. There's friends and games and parties, and most of the time nobody even thinks about the Dark Arts—unless Mr. Malleus has an assignment due, that is!"

Jessica considered this, biting her lip. She seemed a little bit distracted by something. She leaned against an iron support near the opening to the underpass, but she couldn't stop fidgeting. Mr. Cryer and Mr. Malleus were still hunched over the bronze dagger, testing it with their wands. They both looked terribly tired.

"So, what are your other classes like?"

"Well, I really like Potions. Madame Glapion, the Potions teacher, is super nice. Let's see, we've done boil cures, hot foot powder, a couple of potion antidotes, a sleeping potion—I can't remember them all."

"'Madame'? Is she French or something?"

"French Creole, from Louisiana. Almost all the students and teachers are from somewhere in the South." What _was_ it Kate had almost remembered? There was something she had to do, she was sure of it. Something in the woods. Something outside…

"Oh, and next year I get to take elective classes. I've got Muggle Studies with Mr. Cryer (that's why I'm here, by the way), and Care of Magical Creatures. I'm going to like that one! The teacher, Miss Hoskins, is a relative, so I already know she's really smart and will make it fun. And Ancient Runes. I'm not sure about that one. I thought it might be interesting, and my parents wanted me to take at least three electives, but Ms. Svenson-Benson is kind of weird, to be honest."

"What are Ancient Runes?" By now Jessica had revolved around the support until she could look up and see the edge of the concrete underpass as it met the cloudy sky. Mr. Malleus leaned back in his chair, his eyes closed. Mr. Cryer had slumped forward and napped with his head on the table resting in his folded arms.

"It's a kind of ancient writing. From Norway, I think. Once you get good at translating them, you're supposed to be able to use them for magic. Lots of powerful magical items have Runes on them, like Pensieves and—"

"You mean like this?" Jessica asked. She pulled something from her back pocket. It looked like a pack of playing cards that had been dropped in the mud and stepped on more than once. She handed the pack to Kate.

"Where did you get this?" she whispered.

"I found it in the bushes this morning when I was picking up pop cans."

The box didn't have a picture, a pattern, a geometric shape, or anything Kate expected to see. Instead, the box was covered in line after line of bold, angular runes.

And suddenly, Kate thought she remembered.

"We've got to get out of here!" she whispered.

"Now," Jessica replied.


	5. Storm

Kate bolted down the creek bed with Jessica close behind her. The two ran at full speed for about a minute. Then Kate stopped abruptly.

"Wait!" she cried. "What were we doing?"

"I remembered something," Jessica gasped. "It was…. It was…."

"I don't think so," Kate said. She was trembling. What were they thinking? What made them think they had to leave their place of safety under the railroad tracks? "I thought so, too. Oh, no. We're in trouble!"

"We've got to get back!" Jessica screamed.

They wheeled around just as four figures suddenly became visible. Their hearts leaped into their throats.

The figures stood in front of them, barring their way back to the railroad tracks. Three were the Changelings they hid from in the tree. The fourth was a tall woman in a gray business suit who was maybe thirty years old. She wore her dark hair in a short, businesslike hairdo that framed her soft, feminine features. Kate thought she was very pretty, beautiful even.

But Kate realized she was also dangerous, unpredictable...and most likely evil.

"I'll take those cards, if you please." Her voice was a soft as her face, but there was something about it that compelled obedience. Kate dropped the cards to the ground.

The woman in the business suit extended her hand and the pack flew into it as if pulled by a string. She examined the pack and slipped it into the purse on her shoulder.

_The cards? All this was for a pack of cards?_

"It was wise of you to hide under the train tracks," the woman said. "But very, _very_ foolish to come out into the open, away from all that…iron." The word seemed to leave a bitter taste in her mouth. Kate reached for Jessica's hand.

"Mhrrazael, Gwarz," the woman called. In an instant the male Changelings had bounded across the short distance between them and positioned themselves beside girls before they could run.

"It took some time to reach you in there." She tapped her forehead with a long, thin finger. She spoke as if she were catching up with old friends. "Fortunately, we had a little bit of help in finding you. And coaxing you out into the open was easy enough, of course. That was merely a matter of patient application of low-level magic. The Sleeping Charm on the adults was the hard part. To tell the truth, I wasn't sure I could do it. But you never know until you try." She smiled.

"Now, if you could kindly tell me where the boy is who gave you this?"

"What boy?" Jessica said. "I found it on the ground. Somebody must have dropped it."

"I doubt my boy would have simply dropped it on the ground." She narrowed her eyes, but in her still-soft voice she asked, "You didn't steal it, did you?"

"No, ma'am!" Jessica protested. Lightning flashed. A gentle rain began to fall.

"Hm," the woman pondered. She held up her hand and a gray umbrella appeared in her hands. The three Changelings didn't seem to mind the rain.

"Well, this is distressing. Of course, I'll never understand why Egaez ran away in the first place. He seemed so happy." She smiled again.

Kate found it hard to be reassured by that smile. She took a deep breath and tried to settle her racing heart. "_Know what you're getting into_," Mr. Malleus would say. "_Gather information_."

"Egaez is your son?" she asked, hoping she pronounced the name correctly.

"Oh, heavens no, dear. He's my _boy_. But I've had him since he was a baby, of course, and after all these years he really is a part of the family." She sighed. "He could be miles away by now."

The wind had picked up. The air grew cold. Kate wiped the rain out of her eyes. There was another rumble of thunder—and something else? A twig breaking, perhaps. Or it might have just been the wind.

She wanted to get away—more than she had wanted anything in a long time. But she also wanted to know what was so special about a beat-up pack of playing cards. She thought about the tiny runes all over the box. She thought about Mr. Cryer's shape-changing wand.

"I guess he figured he didn't need those cards anymore," Kate said.

"No, I suppose not," the woman said, and somehow for a second her voice didn't seem as soft as it had before.

"But if Egaez isn't coming back," she said, and her usual tone of voice returned, "then one of you will have to take his place."

"What?" Jessica gasped.

"Well, it's only fair," the woman explained. "There has to be a balance. Give-and-take, don't you see? Reciprocity. One goes out, another comes in. It's our way."

"What if we don't want to go?" Kate asked, her voice cracking.

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," the woman said. "Would you like a chocolate?" She pulled two silver-wrapped treats from her bag.

It had been a long time since lunch.

"_Some say it comes from eating Fae food_," Kate remembered Mr. Cryer saying.

"I'll pass. _We'll_ pass."

"Suit yourself." She offered a chocolate to the female Changeling at her side. "Now, who is going to come and live with me?"

Kate glanced at Jessica. Jessica was biting her lip and her eyes were focused upward. Kate peered up and saw a black shape high in the sky. A crow.

_They found us_, she thought. _Just a little bit longer and we're safe!_

She nudged the younger girl and tried to tell her with her eyes to pretend she hadn't seen anything. There was definitely a sound of movement behind her. Now she was sure of it. She felt her face beginning to blush.

"You, dear, are younger," the woman said to Jessica, "and so perhaps easier to train. But your friend here is obviously very intelligent. She would do well in our world. This is such a difficult choice."

Lightning flashed in the distance. The rain came heavy for a second, then subsided. Kate shivered.

A crow cawed behind them. Two seconds later a red flash irrupted from the opposite direction, from behind the woman and the yellow-haired Changeling girl. Mr. Malleus emerged from behind a tree, firing Stunning Spells at the two females with the speed and persistence of a battering ram, just he had done before.

Kate pushed Jessica to the ground. At the same time a flurry of multicolored lights exploded behind them. Baldy and Ponytail spun to face Mr. Cryer.

If Mr. Malleus was like a battering ram, Mr. Cryer was like a fencing master. He spun and dodged and never seemed to cast the same spell twice. He tangled Baldy in a knot of angry pythons. He fired a jet of flame at Ponytail. Kate was surprised a man of Mr. Cryer's age could move that fast! Every time, however, the Changelings managed to shake off the effects of his spells and send their own counter-spells back at him.

The woman in the suit had produced a Shield Charm around herself and the Girl. Sometime during the fight her umbrella had vanished. She raised both arms into the air and shouted, "Enough!" The two wizards' wands flew from their hands to hers, and a tangle of leafy vines emerged from the ground under the feet of both of them. The vines climbed up their legs and soon had them trapped.

"I'm tempted to bring you both," the woman said. "But where's the symmetry in that?"

Mr. Cryer and Mr. Malleus had fallen onto the ground as they tried to pull their legs free from the vines. They kept getting bigger and longer. Soon their arms were also bound.

"No," the woman continued, "I only need one, and I think I'll choose—"

Jessica tried to make a run for it but Ponytail grabbed her around the shoulders and held her tight. "Let me go!" she screamed. Lightning flashed, followed immediately by a crashing boom of thunder.

It was only a moment's confusion, but it gave Kate a chance to reach in her handbag and pull out her wand. It couldn't possibly work, but she had to try something. She took aim at the woman in the gray suit and shouted, "Stupefy!" A scarlet light blasted from the tip of the wand straight into the woman's stomach, where it dissolved into nothingness.

"Oh, how cute!" the woman gushed. "You want to show off your magic!" She turned to Jessica. "How about you, dear. Would you like to show me what you can do? Don't be shy."

Jessica shook like there was an earthquake welling up inside her. She jammed her hands deep into her pockets. She gasped. Her eyebrows furrowed.

She pulled her hands back out. In her right hand was the handful of old rusty screws she had collected under the tracks.

She threw them at the woman in the gray suit and shouted "Back off!" at the top of her lungs. Kate was startled by the ferocity of her shout, but what happened next startled her even more.

There were sparks, like electricity, between Jessica's fingers and the still-flying screws. Still in midair, the screws began to grow into iron bars. They circled around the woman like angry hornets. The Girl dove out of the way.

The bars linked themselves together. They shot forth crossbars at right angles that reached out for each other. In a matter of seconds they created a cage around the woman, like a giant iron birdcage barely big enough to hold her.

The woman cried out. Her appearance had changed. Her ears had become long and pointed, her skin strangely greenish-blue. She was still pretty, but her face was no longer entirely human. Something about it wasn't quite right.

The woman screamed in anger and frustration. She reached out to shake the bars, but she pulled her hands away fast, like the bars had bitten her.

Kate realized that she still had her wand. "_Expelliarmus_!" she shouted, and this time the woman's magic couldn't protect her. The wands that belonged to her teachers flew out of the woman's hands and landed on the ground in front of her. She scooped them up and turned to Mr. Cryer and Mr. Malleus. They were still tangled in the vines. Baldy and Ponytail were nowhere to be seen.

Kate pointed her wand at the vines around Mr. Cryer's feet and conjured a spark of flames to burn the plants at their roots. Mr. Cryer had no trouble pulling away the singed and withering vines. She handed Mr. Cryer his wand and helped Mr. Malleus break free the same way. The rain was easing off as suddenly as it had begun.

By the time the Girl had gotten back on her feet, Kate, Mr. Cryer, and Mr. Malleus all had their wands pointed straight at her. She made eye contact with the scowling woman, gave an embarrassed little laugh, and vanished with a _zzip!_

"Mr. Cryer, Mr. Malleus," Kate said breathlessly, "she was looking for Jessica's pack of cards. They're in her purse."

"You don't say?" Mr. Malleus puzzled. Then he trained his wand on the woman's purse and commanded, "_Accio Cards_!" The Summoning Charm drew the deck out of the woman's purse and into Mr. Malleus's large hands.

"Mine!" the Fae woman cried. She grabbed at the bars again, but once again flinched in pain and let go. She rubbed her hands together and blew on them, like she was trying to warm them after touching a frozen flagpole.

Mr. Malleus glared. "Madam, unless I'm mistaken you are in no position to make demands of us..." he glanced appreciatively at Jessica, "...or anyone else."

"Let me out!"

"I suppose we could," Mr. Cryer mused. "If we knew you wouldn't cause our friends here any more trouble."

"Ever," Mr. Malleus added. "We let you go, you leave these girls alone. You never bother them again. You don't go near their homes. You don't go near their school. You don't touch their families or their friends. Ever. Understand?"

The woman fumed. "The pack is mine!" she growled.

"You got a receipt?" Mr. Cryer said.

He waved his wand, and the cage rattled and shrunk half a size. "Something tells me we're going to want to study that pack for a while. Then we _might_ be convinced to give it back."

"Maybe," Mr. Malleus added. "If the mood strikes us," he smiled. "Now, give us your word."

There was another flash of lightning and another deafening crack of thunder.

The woman sputtered. The cage shrank another half-size. "Jacob," Mr. Cryer said, "what does lightning do to a Fae? I mean, one that's stuck inside a giant iron lightning rod outside in a thunderstorm?"

"All right," the woman exhaled. "It shall be as you said. Now get me out of here!"

"As you wish," Mr. Cryer said. As if on cue, the entire cage evaporated in a puff of gray smoke.

The woman said something in her language that did not sound pleasant. Then she vanished.

Mr. Cryer sighed. "That wasn't me," he said under his breath, shaking his head. "The cage was about to give out anyway. We were lucky."

Kate drew her hand to her mouth to conceal her surprised grin.

Mr. Cryer bent down over the place where the cage and the woman had been. He picked something up in his right hand, still holding his wand ready in his left.

"Jessica," Mr. Cryer said, "that was about the best display of conjuration I've seen in years. You really seem to have a knack for it. And if you have any doubts about whether Malkin Academy is the place for you," he held out his hand and offered her four small screws, "then let these be a reminder."

"Indeed," Mr. Malleus concurred. Jessica cupped her hands to receive back the screws. "Quite admirable. As I told you, there's no telling how or when a young wizard's powers will emerge. But I'm grateful yours did today. If you haven't noticed, you've saved all our lives." He tipped his hat. "Thank you."

Jessica stood there, dumbstruck.

"Now, what are we to make of _this_?" Mr. Malleus held up the cards that were still in his hand. "Are those runes? They don't look like any runes I've ever seen. Corbin?" He passed the deck to Mr. Cryer.

"I don't recognize them. Must be some kind of Fae Runes. We'll need to take this to an expert."

"I can show."

It was a soft, timid voice coming from the trees above them.

A boy, maybe eleven or twelve years old, dropped from a tree branch. He was barefoot and wearing a pair of denim overalls. His eyes were pale blue and his hair was brown and curly. His skin had an odd greenish complexion.

Mr. Malleus and Mr. Cryer aimed their wands at him.

"Wait!" Kate cried. She took a half step in the boy's direction.

"You can show us what this is?" she asked. The boy nodded.

"Are you...?"

"My name...is...Egaez."


	6. Jessica's Decision

"Egaez?" Kate repeated.

"That means you..." Jessica said, "You belong to...that is to say..."

"I live with Mavra. But no more!" the boy said with a stomp of his bare foot.

"Mavra. That's the woman who had these?" Mr. Malleus asked, raising the deck of cards.

The boy nodded. "Run away. Use that." He indicated the cards.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Mr. Malleus said.

"Not really cards," the boy said. He reached for the deck. Mr. Malleus clutched them to his chest. He sized the boy up and glanced at Mr. Cryer. Mr. Cryer nodded and lifted his wand. Under Mr. Cryer's cover, Mr. Malleus handed over the deck.

The boy snapped his fingers. The box opened up like a book. As if moved by an invisible hand, the cards shifted in his hands, arranging themselves into a pattern of two, then four, then eight, joining and then separating at the edges, folding and unfolding in complicated designs like a cat's cradle of cardstock.

"It's a map!" Jessica shouted. And indeed it was. Kate recognized the basic contours of North America: Florida, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River running through the middle. The map was crisscrossed with lines in half a dozen colors. Wherever the lines crossed there was a circle and a runic inscription that matched the runes Kate had seen on the box.

"Map," the boy said with a smile.

"A map of the Fae world?" Mr. Cryer asked, his eyes as big as saucers.

"Yes," the boy said. "Map of _Lamrherri_. Fae world."

Mr. Malleus could almost have burned a hole in the map with his piercing stare. "Corbin, we've got to get this to a safe place. Promise or no promise, the Fae aren't going to part with something like this willingly."

"I quite agree, Jacob." Mr. Cryer turned to the boy.

"Egaez, is that right? Egaez, you used this map to run away?"

The boy nodded. Then he bowed his head. "Help me find way out. But Mavra send Mhrrazael, Gwarz, Ewunrsar. Chase many days. Want map back. Want _me_ back." He sniffed. "So sorry," he whispered.

"You didn't want to go back," Mr. Malleus said. "Quite understandable. You hid the map, threw it away?"

"I think, they find map, they let me go. They look for map, give me time to get away. I not think anyone else find map first." He looked at Jessica with tears in his pale blue eyes. "I not mean you be in trouble! Honest!"

"Miss Robinson," Mr. Malleus said, "I believe I mentioned the fact that Fae do not lie. Egaez here was raised to understand the importance of telling the truth."

Jessica swallowed hard.

"I was just collecting cans. I'm saving up for a new CD." She spoke slowly, as if she didn't know what her next word would be until it came out of her mouth. "I saw the cards in the bushes. On the ground. I just thought they looked interesting."

She looked up at him.

"I know you didn't do it on purpose," she said. She frowned. She began to cry. "But...I've just had a very strange day."

"As soon as you find, I know you in trouble," Egaez said. "I follow you all day long, try to keep you safe."

"You what?" Kate blurted.

"Watch you from bushes. Watch you from grass while you hide in tree. Try to...to...distract. I fight with Gwarz while you—" he indicated Mr. Malleus "—fight with others."

"It was you!" Kate said.

"Then I follow you to...to place of cold metal. Wait there. Use magic to help men wake up."

"I'll bet that's how they found us under the tracks," Mr. Cryer whispered to Kate. "They must have followed Egaez without him knowing it."

"Egaez," Mr. Malleus said, "We need to leave, before more of Mavra's friends show up. I can take you and the map to somewhere safe. Are you ready?"

Egaez smiled weakly again at Kate, Jessica, and Mr. Cryer. "So sorry," he said again.

"I-I guess it's all right," Jessica said. "You didn't know. And you helped us, after all."

"If you don't mind..." Mr. Malleus held up the map. Egaez snapped his fingers and it folded in on itself, shuffling and reshuffling, until it once again appeared to be nothing but an old, beat up pack of playing cards.

"Now, stand next to me and hold my hand," Mr. Malleus said. With a sudden _crack!_ Mr. Malleus and Egaez were gone.

Mr. Cryer used magic to dry their clothes and soon the three were walking back toward town. Jessica remembered to take them back a different way so they wouldn't run into Molly. It would be hard to explain how Jessica had managed to lose one "uncle" and gain another!

"Mr. Cryer?" Kate wasn't sure how to raise the subject, but she felt she had to.

"Yes?"

"Jessica doesn't have to decide today, does she? About coming to Malkin?"

"She's got about six weeks if she needs it," Mr. Cryer answered. "Do you need a little more time, Jessica?"

There was silence.

"This has been a rough day, Jessica," Mr. Cryer continued. "If you need to sleep on it, that's fine."

"I—" Jessica began.

"We can set a time with your parents and I can come back for your answer. Kate can come too if you like."

"I'm—"

"Yeah," Kate chimed in. "Maybe then we can get that ice cream!"

"It's just that—"

"No need to make excuses, Jessica. We understand."

"Will you people let me finish?" Jessica shouted.

"Oops. Sorry." Kate blushed.

"What I'm trying to say is, I think I want to say yes—if my parents let me."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Cryer asked.

"Well, first I was. Then when those Changelings attacked us, I definitely _wasn't_. But when I think about what Mr. Malleus said...I saved your lives. I mean...wow."

"Wow indeed," Mr. Cryer said. "You have an amazing power, Jessica. And a great Muggle philosopher once said, 'With great power comes great responsibility.' Is that sort of what you're thinking about?"

"Yeah," Jessica said. "I hated what I did to Tom Walker—even if he deserved it! I don't want to use magic to hurt people, but if I can help them..."

Mr. Cryer smiled. "Jessica, it's kids like you that make me proud to be a teacher."

Jessica smiled.

They turned onto Redbud Way.

"Now, remember," Mr. Cryer explained, "Jessica's parents aren't going to realize we've been gone so long. Be sure to apologize for being late, but don't be surprised that they've lost track of time. Jessica, if you'd like me to come and explain things to them later, I will. It's only fair that they know what has happened...eventually."

"Sure," she said. "Hey, Kate! I just remembered: I'm invited to a pool party next weekend. Do you think you could come?"

"That would be great! But I'll have to get one of my parents to bring me. I'll ask them about it and send you an owl."

"An _owl_?" Jessica frowned.

"I'll explain it later," Kate said. "Look, isn't that your house up ahead?"

"I guess there's lots of stuff I still have to learn."

"Don't worry," Mr. Cryer said. "You've got all the time in the world."


End file.
